Method and apparatus for mixing solids with liquids



Oct. 2, 1928; 1,686,076

' w. EVANS 6 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MIXING SQLIDS WITH LIQUIDS Filed. June 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet i Inf/@7250? Oct. 2, 1928.

6 1,686,076 W. EVANS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MIXING SOLIDS WITH LIQUIDS Filed June 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invenfor 5 J fltt07'726 s',

7 35 form;

Patented &3 2, was.

srAT s WILSOIQ' EVANS, OF CHICAGO, IIJ'JINQIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0

NATIONAL ALATE CORPORATION, OF DELAW mn'rnon am) APP: i F; *rvs ron Application filed June e,

My invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus for mixing solids with liquids. It is particularly adapted for supplying and mixing dry chemicals to water 5 for water-treating plants in connection with railroads and the like although it is understood my method and process is not limited to any particular chemical or to any particular liquid or any particular use. y

Among the obgects of my invention are: To provide a new and improved method of. measuring. the quantity of dry solids or chem icals which are supplied to a liquid or watertreating lant. Another object is to provide 16 means w ereby thechemicals are introduced into the presence of water or the liquid without danger of wastage-0r spillage. Another object is to providemeans for measuring and controlling the'quantity of solids and feeding 0 them to the liquid independent of the relative positions of the supply of and. liq

uid. Another object is to rovide means for mixing solids and liquids y projecting the solids at hi h velocity against the surface.

26 of the liqui to c'ause the solids to impinge and be immediately entrap ed in the liquid. Other objects will appear 20m time to time in the specification.

My invention is illustrated more or less dia- 30- grammatically in the accompanying draw ings, wherein Figure 1 is a section through a water treating plant;

Figure 2 is a section through a modified Figure-3 is a detail side elevation of the measuring and chemical supplyapparatus; Figure 4 is a View ofthe device shown in Figure. 3 looking in the direction of the ar- .0 row; Y

' Figure 5 is a detail of anneasuririg screw. Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout. I I A is a water tank. It may be of any suitable size 01'' dimensions, perhaps as 'much as sixty feet hi h. A is a downtake pipe shown for 'examp e in the center of the tank though it may be arranged any wherein the tank as desired.' This down-take pipe is open at top no and bottom supported on tracks A and ex-' tends at the top above the water level and communicates at the bottom with the body of the? tank. A is 'a water suppl pipecontrolled by the valve A and disc argmg the --chemical with blower.

or cmcaeo, rumors; aconronarron 1927. serial no. 196.810

wat'er'to be treated into the top of the down take pipe. A is the draw ofi pipe through. which the'treated water is discharged from the tank. It will be understood that this arrangement results in a circulationof water through the down take to the bottom of the on tank and thence up through the body of the tank to the top where the treated wateris drawn ofi. y I B is a storage hopper for the dry chemical with which the water is to be treated. This I storage hopper has a conical hopper B and is mounted (in the supporting framework B This conical bottom discharges through the spout B into the measuring and conve infg tube B whence a measured quantity 0 the chemical is propelled along the tube by the at C C is a motor which drives the blower v orvfan. C is the air intake to the fan It is provided with a funnel G into which projects the pipe B adapted to discharge the dry e indrawn air into the D is a reduction gear driven by the fan shaft and driving an'adjustable crank disc D. ID is a block slidably adjustable on the face of\ the disc to change the throw of the crank.- D is a connecting rod pivoted on the block D and pivoted also on the feed lever D. The feed lever D is slotted so that the pivot point ofthe connecting rod D on the lever may be adjusted toward and from its 5 axis of oscillation. This lever D is free to rotate on the shaft B. D is a ratchet wheel keyed to the shaftB"; D is a driving dog pivoted on the lever D adapted to engage the ratchet, the result of this arrangement ;being that as the fan shaftrotates the adjustablecrankdisc also rotates and reciprocation of the connecting rod causes reciprocation of the driving lever and dog. By adjusting the crank throw and the lever arm through which the connecting rod workson the driving lever, the speed with which'the shaft B and the propelling worm travels with respect to the motor adjus'ted to provide .a meas intimate mixtureof the dust and the water any lumps and which the 'r with this dust burden is I I charged is directed against the'surface of the dust will not have lost 1t's VfQIOCItY bBiOI'G the.

chemical strikes the water, and to insure that 1 funnel E associated with a spray inthrough the spray nozzle E supgi y a w comes'u around the outside of the downtake vide a tunnel with a discharge pipe extend- "pipe, an 1s drawn 01! through a weir ipe or ing down to the level of the water. The air ow is continuous and the level of the water is also discharged into the funnel a water ured quantity of wderedmjaterial- The air'. or the liquid. Since the dust column carne'stii: powderedfj naterialinto I water in a finely d 1v1ded and and through the"blower,'. thefim and-blower there is no formation .ofheavy serving tosome extent as a hammer to break chemical, and thus the chemica;

up to the top of the tank entrains the finelz divided chemical with it. The nozzle throng g a dis tween such limits as insure that the air and water and .thus a controlled and measu approaches the fiused state, she otthe gQSfinto the column of airas it rushes solution with a minimum of difiiculty. q All that theoperator has :to dois to mam- 1. 1 ain the level of the water in the tank 'beuantity of dry chemical is discharged, into the dust nozzle be not drowned in the waters e to ofythe down take. p All that he 'has to do at the 'otherend-is to In e modified form shown in FignreE, maintain a supply of chemlcal inthe hopper the nozzle C instead of discharging. against the water surface dischar es-into the ,ficient for the rate of feed .of the water.

) of water Since thefan motormoves at a speed,'it is'only necessary to a just therelaed ter ipe E, the purpose Of thlS tive lever arms of the reciprocatin ratchet ing'to insure tl at in spite ofvariations in :to insure that the feeder will work at the the height of water in the tank the air jet will correct speed. always discharge into a-oont'rolled body of water or ihto a spray of water so that the may be introduced in this manner" or, if there finel divided chemicals may not escape. A 'T euse and operation of my invention are them may be introduced in solutionif desired asfollows: v and othersby In appling my inventionto a 'water treatsible to mix a 'or so enmg plant for railroads and the hopper or to use separate air feeders for each like, it will be understood that the same inchemical, as the case maybe. vention might be applied to other purposes.

In the preferred form, the water-tobe treated in the downtake pipe may va' through wide is continuously fed to the top of a waterranges. In this case, when t e level is very" per low, the airblast will-have lost its force betreating tank and disc into the u so fore the. chemical reaches the water. In this end ofthe downtake cham c r in the ta that the water continuously flows through the case, the light chemical would have to .fall.

rectly and to make sure that the rate of feed is suf'-' are a number of different chemicals, some of gredetermined All of the (chemicals used to treat the water 4 the air method. It is posthe chemicals together in the I downtake chamber or pipe, bein agitated in freely under the influence of gravity,- and in 4 its path toward the bottom of t e tank. At anexposed tank this 'might not be satisfacthe bottom of the tank the water flows out, tory; therefore, in the modified form, 1 proat the top of the tank. Prefera ly the blast discharges into this tunnel, and there in the" downdraft pi is constant.

The dry located the work house at the bottom of it own 'to the bottom of the water. If dethe tank, and the motor is started. This sired,ihowever, there might be" substituted causes the feed screw to rotate at a predeterfor this spray merely a stream ofv water-run spray which mmgles' with the. air iblastiem mined speed and to discharge the chemical ninginto the afunnel and coating the sides inertia oft e dust particles causes them Hair stream. laden with finel n to unpmge upon the water and there s absoin suspension against the surface of the liqmay be caked or hardened, and the air cur-frent set up by the fan entrains the finely diwhich consists in pro'ectinga continuous I ryided, commmuted or dustlike material with stream of finely divided it' n its travel through the air pipe'u to' the ity against the surface'of the liquid .with 51 p of the tank. There the air and so ids are which thefifllid is to be-mi'xed. '-"*discharged directly against the surface of the from the hopper into the intake of thefang thereof, in, which case the chemical would be The chemical is picked u b the-"air as it entrapped by this streamof water,-'although,

rushes into'the fan, the an lades to some as a general proposition, the spray will ordif narily be found to be better. H

extent acting as a hammer-mill breakinguu I claim:

and finely comminutin-g the chemical w c .3 P ess of mixing liquid san i an .water or the h uld. Experien hows that wine consists in discharg ng a high velocigy lute'Iy no wasta or escape of dust. -The air, uidwith which the solid is to be mixedof course, is. de ected by the water, the dust a 3. The process of mixing liquids a'nd'mlid being caughtbjthe so to produce an which consists in discharging at high velocy dividedsoli s" chemica is placed in the hopper tra s the powdered chemical,'and carries- 1. The process of miXingli qll idS and gb ail;

solids at high velocity an air stream containinv in suspension the finely divided solids, mixing said stream with a spray of liquid and discharging the combined spray air stream and finely divided solids' into amass of liquid;

4. The process of mixing solids and liquids which consists in continuously measuring out at a predetermined rate a supply of finely divided solids, violently agitating such solids and entraining them in suspension in a rapidly moving current of air and then dischargin such air current with the finely divided so ids in suspension therein against the surface of the liquid with which the solid is to be mixed.

5. Means for mixing liquids and solids comprising a liquid treatment tank open at the top, a receptacle for the solid material, a blower, measuring means to continuously withdraw solid material from the receptacle and supply it to the blower, a discharge pipe leading from the blower to the open top of the tank and adapted to conduct a rapidly moving stream of air laden with solids in suspension to and discharge it against the surface of the liquid.

6. A water treating plant comprising a tank open at the top, means for feeding water continuously to and discharging it from the tank, a blower, means for continuously supplying to the blower a measured quantity of chemical in dry form, means including the blower and a pipe leading from the blower to the tank for conveying the chemical in suspension in an air blast to and discharging it against the water at the open top of the tank.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 26th day of May, 1927.

, WILSON EVANS. 

